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I have an opportunity to bid on a 4-plex (shown with photos) and a small apartment.

The 4-plex is pretty small, no backyards, only the fronts, which you can pretty much see all of in the pictures. It is only about 2,100 sq-ft to mow, and about 500 ft to trim/edge.

I estimate it will only take me about 35 min to mow, trim, edge, and blow. If that, maybe faster.

If I treat it like a normal customer, I know how much I would bid. But I was kind of wondering if you guys raise your price on these kinds of jobs? Given the area that needs doing, its like a single residence, but there are technically 4 addresses.

The customer also has an apartment that only has 10 units. I was once told that the going rate was about $19/door. The whole complex is mostly parking lot, with some street-side stripes. If they wanted me to handle the bushes, there is a long, but low, hedgerow there as well. But she told me that they handle the bushes. What I don't remember is if the person said it was $19/door per week or per month.

If the price is per week, then we are looking at over $800/month. Whereas if that price is per unit per month, the it's only $190/mo.

So what I'm asking is this:
1) How do you guys handle plexes in regards to price?
2) How do you price out small apartments?

I have some ideas on price, but I want to stay competitive and not low-ball any offers.

Comment

I was leaning towards that conclusion as well. I was just curious if maybe people had different prices when it came to apartment accounts.

I have actually been trying to stay at my customers home for an hour. The other day I was at a residence for 1.5 hours, and sometimes I leave after 40 min.

But if I give myself an hour, then I don't feel like I need to sacrifice quality and race to the next job. This way I can slow down edging, make sure I clean up well, pick up any debris around, and still feel like I'm meeting my mark for my hourly rate.

Now, I only do this with customer who want "full service". For those people only wanting me to come and mow, I do the job and take off. I don't stick around to pick up that candy wrapper, or rake out beds.

Anyone else do it like that when it comes to "full service" customers, versus just the "mow-n-go" customers?

Comment

Anyone else do it like that when it comes to "full service" customers, versus just the "mow-n-go" customers?

This could also lean towards the question of what kind of customers do you want. Early on, you probably should take any customer you can get your hands on. But as you grow, you may find that you look for the properties where owners care about what their yard looks like.

Ultimately each property you service, represents the quality of your business. So you always want to strive to have the best properties represent you.

I was leaning towards that conclusion as well. I was just curious if maybe people had different prices when it came to apartment accounts.

If you are on the job site longer and can cut out that drive time between different jobs, you will tend to make more money staying put on a single job. When you are able to make more money on such a job, you have more leeway with your bidding and you could potentially bid the job a little lower if you needed to land it and still be profitable.